Golf Management Blog by Legendary Golf Management - Golf Management Company

Anticipation

2010-03-19T13:45:00Z

Remember the song Anticipation by Carly Simon? I heard it the other day on satellite radio on the Music from the 70's station and it got me thinking about the power of anticipation!

Think about it yourself. What do you eagerly anticipate? Is it that special dinner, the Saturday round of golf, the weekend getaway trip, or the day off just to relax? Well, regardless of what it is, it is looked forward to and keeps you going!

So ask yourself this. Are you creating Anticipation in your club or resort offerings? Are you keeping it fresh and regularly trying new things? Do you brainstorm with your staff for new ideas? Are you willing to step out of the box? Are your events really special or just called special because that's what you've always called them.

Three Types of Experience Providers

In my conversations and visits to clubs and resorts I see three pretty distinct types of experience providers:

The Routiners:

Things are done at these clubs/resorts because that's the way it has always been done. They do everything the same way on the same dates with the same format every year. They are either scared to step out and try something new, don't have the skill set to do so, or are just plain not motivated. The word lazy comes to mind.

The Testers:

These people know that they should try some different things, but change doesn't come easy to many people. So, on occasion, they will put a twist on an event or even try a new event. But they are quite tentative and more concerned about why something might not work versus devoting the planning, energy, marketing, and execution to make it work.

The Innovators:

This is the group that creates fun, entertainment, and eager anticipation. Franchises are good example of this and this is a big reason that the success rate of franchises is so high and the success rate of individually owned businesses is so low. Walk into almost any franchise and your senses are bombarded with information about food features, drink features, loyalty programs, and an upbeat atmosphere and energy created with music, lighting, props, and smartly uniformed, smiling staff.

There is a buzz and a sense of arrival. Why is there a sense of arrival? Because something is going on! And the savvy operators have something going on every day, in some cases every hour. What's going on in your club or resort today or tonight? What do members/guests point to and plan to attend all week? What's creating the “buzz” this week? What's new? What's exciting? What is creating intrigue, interest, and ANTICIPATION?

Some Examples

I recently stayed at an Embassy Suites. They have a complimentary cocktail hour from 5PM to 7PM daily. I had a meeting in the lounge area near the bar and as 5PM approached people began appearing from everywhere for the party. There was a buzz. It was clear that a great majority of these people were eagerly anticipating this event all day. I was looking forward to it myself.

Attending the PGA Show in Las Vegas I noticed that the sushi bar in the Mandalay Bay Hotel had $5 sake and $5 sushi rolls from 4PM to 7PM weekdays. A great deal for a high end restaurant in a high end Vegas casino. Our party of four attended and had a great pre- Jersey Boys show snack, even though the Sapporo beer we also had was $13 for a bottle.

Returning from an out of town trip last week I stopped at a Friday's because it was one of the few places open at 10:30PM. Not expecting much I was overwhelmed with all of the options they had for drinking and dining, and even though the bar was not crowded, there was a great sense that I just arrived at a party put on just for me. I had special appetizer options, featured drink choices, it was happy hour, there were featured entrees, a great vibe from the music, and college basketball tournaments on all the dozen or so televisions. I was also given a calendar of the upcoming events for the next month.

With my check, I was given a website address to access for a free appetizer on my next visit as they were also trying to capture data from their patrons. I had not been to a Friday's since they served steak on a stick when I was in college, but was back in this one 3 nights later. And, I have several of their menus and promotional pieces to share with our partners.

So how can I get this happening at my golf club or resort?

It's not hard, but like anything worthwhile it requires work and the desire to do so. Brainstorm with your staff, get feedback from your members/guests, visit franchises and other clubs/resorts in your market. When you travel on business or pleasure take notes, pick up menus and other collateral material, and then DO IT!

You can start simply with things like a wine tasting, a business networking event, a single malt whiskey tasting, a candlelight dinner with music on a particularly scenic hole on your golf course, a sushi chef for a sushi night monthly, a demo day, night golf, or special entertainment.

You can kick it up with a turn back the clock golf event with knickers, wooden shafted golf clubs, and gutta percha golf balls. Challenge you members/guests to take a tour of European countries by providing a selection of 5 beers from each country over 10 months. Provide custom club/resort logoed mugs and specialty glasses or other promotional items from the brewers of the beers you select.

Get creative, maybe even a little crazy. People seek unique and fun activities and if well carried out, are willing to pay for them.

We're in the Entertainment Business

Clubs and resorts face fierce competition and consumers who are becoming more judicious with their spending. Simply being a private club, having a well designed and maintained golf course, and having a great resort facility isn't enough.

Clubs and resorts must evolve to succeed and continually creating new events and activities and a sense of arrival will logically lead to ANTICIPATION of what's scheduled and what's next!

So where do you fit? If you're not an Innovator, make the choice to become one today. You can do it if you simply decide to dedicate the necessary effort to do so.

For Legendary Golf Management,

Bob Devitz
President and CEO
Legendary Golf Management
727-424-2434

PS: Want a great resource for all your club or resort marketing, sales, and operations questions? Check out Cunningly Clever Golf Operator.

PPS: Want to chat about your own unique situation? Call me at 727-424-2434 for a complimentary 30 minute golf management consultation.

Follow me on Twitter!

About Us

Bob Devitz is the CEO and President of Legendary Golf Management and is an expert in the operations and marketing of Club and Golf Courses. Bob has over 25 years of experience in the industry, primarily in senior management roles with ClubCorp, an industry leading “for profit” company. Bob has an MBA from The Florida State University, a BSBA with a specialization in marketing from The University of Florida, and is a member of the PGA of America. Having worked with hundreds of Private Clubs during his career, Bob brings a results driven, business approach to the Hospitality Industry.

Are You Serious About Sales?

2010-03-01T17:52:00Z

Are You Serious About Sales?

One of our Legendary Partners recently asked me for an agenda for a Sales Meeting for his Resort. I put together a one page document that detailed the components necessary for an effective meeting, but as I looked it over, I felt more explanation was necessary. So, I began to expand on the simple format and explain a bit about the “why” behind each item. It goes back to the old adage, “what gets measured gets done."

I see so many examples of sales opportunities being squandered for a variety of reasons including:

Failure to capture leads.
Lack of a systemized process to follow up on leads.
Lack of a specific plan to generate leads.
A salary versus a commission based system for compensating salespeople.
Lack of a formal, weekly meeting to create accountability for specific sales goals, future booking goals, and new lead generation.

Think about how much time you spend each week on various activities in your club or resort. Time is spent talking with members and guests, ordering goods and services, scheduling employees, processing paperwork, and dozens of other things. And all of these activities are necessary functions for the business.

But, to be SERIOUS ABOUT SALES, you must also formally devote at least a couple hours each week to the sales process to ensure that the focus is not only on servicing the business you have today, but bringing new business to the table for the future as well. So, how do you do that? Read on.

A Formal Weekly Sales Meeting

A Sales Meeting should be conducted weekly at an established time with every salesperson in your club or resort on a one on one basis and be lead by the club's or resort's General Manager/Sales Manager. The required reports for the meeting should include:

A weekly report showing actual sales from the week most recently ended with a comparison to plan and prior year.
A report detailing all new sales by revenue source booked for the future for the week just ended compared to the benchmark needed to ensure that planned sales are on track to be achieved.
A report detailing the new leads and prospects generated this week by revenue source.
A forecast of revenues for the upcoming 4 weeks compared to planned revenues.
Review of the quarterly game plan activities and the progress being made on their implementation.

The following are the steps necessary to conduct an effective sales meeting that focuses everyone involved in the sales process on the key indicators of success, keeps the quarterly game plan a dynamic, working document, and most importantly, creates accountability.

The Agenda

1. Review of Prior Week's Actual Sales

     How did last week's revenues compare to plan and prior year? This is information that provides a snapshot of how we did last week and how our current financial reporting period is going to look; however, it is the least important part of a sales meeting. Why? Because it's over!

     Great, good, ok, or lousy, it's over and nothing can be done to change it. It provides a historical perspective and that has value, but only value in that you hopefully learned what was done right, wrong, and what action you will take in response to the results. So, review what happened, but spend little time on this part of the meeting.

2. Review of Future Bookings

More importantly, review how many packages, room nights, private events, tee times, outings, or other relevant sources of revenue were booked this week for the future. This is as important as the actual financial results for the week because it is a key indicator of future success. Plus, it provides a sales manager with critical information about the performance of the salesperson.

Rather than simply reviewing the actual sales that occurred during the week that just ended, reviewing the new revenues the salespeople were able to secure for the future and comparing that number to an established benchmark that a club/resort needs in order to meet its plan is imperative!

For example, if your private events goal is $1 million annually, you must consistently book new revenues of $20,000 or more every week (or average that amount) or you won't be successful in reaching your goal. Similarly, if your closing rate on prospects for membership sales is 10% and you were successful in adding 10 new prospects during the week, you can anticipate one new membership within your club's sales cycle for memberships, typically a 2 to 6 week timeframe.

These types of revenue benchmarks should be established for all relevant revenue sources in your club/resort. This will also give you specific information on the timing of the booking of new sales.

While weddings are likely to be booked 6 months to a year in advance, what is reasonable at your club or resort for a golf package, a round of golf, a room night, or a social function? Knowing how much business should be on the books in advance at specific intervals allows you to take action today that will ensure future success.

Celebrate the successes of the new sales that were booked even though those sales and revenues won't be coming in this week. They are your future and a good week of bookings deserves to be recognized now!

3. Existing Leads

Review how many leads are existing and what actions are being taken to close these leads. This involves going over each lead, one at a time, and determining what the next step in the sales process should be. This may be setting an appointment, inviting a guest for a tasting, setting up a tee time for a prospective member, or any other activity with the goal of moving the sales process forward.

And be certain that every contact a salesperson makes with a lead/prospect has a specific goal related to the contact. It doesn't have to be closing the contact on a sale, but it should be closing the contact on something, such as a club visit, a food tasting, a round of golf, the sale if at the proper point in the sales cycle, or any other relevant step that moves the sales process forward.

Savvy salespeople know this and do it routinely, but some people new to sales very likely need and would appreciate this kind of assistance in planning and coaching.

This is also the appropriate time for the General Manager/Sales Manager to ask the sales staff if there are any roadblocks or obstacles that are getting in the way of closing sales. This type of dialogue not only can take down those obstacles, but also in many cases provide a better club/resort experience for its members or guests.

4. New Leads

A key indicator of future sales success is the generation of new leads. All too often sales people become so obsessed with closing existing leads that the generation of new leads takes a back seat. This leads to an up and down cycle of sales success.

Carefully review not only new business that was actually booked and the leads that have been generated previously and are in the pipeline, but also the new leads generated during the past week for the products and services your club/resort offers. A sales management tool that keeps track of all new leads generated and follows the leads through the sales cycle to their logical conclusion must be in place in order to be effective in sales management.

To be effective a dedicated effort to generate new leads must be conducted concurrent with an effort to close those which exist.

An effective sale manager will ensure that the salesperson is staying in balance and focusing appropriate time on not only closing leads and moving pre-existing leads through the sale cycle, but on generating new leads as well.

And don't forget; celebrate the generation of new leads. These are your future revenues!

5. Forecast Review

How much in revenue is on the books for the near term, the next 4 to 6 weeks? Are forecasted revenues going to make plan, exceed plan, or fall short of plan?

If revenues are looking good, great! Ask what can be done to capture a greater share of the business that you are going to see over the next several weeks as bookings are solid and will allow you to achieve plan. What are we going to up-sell in every area? What in addition can we cross promote? If someone is planning a large party or outing, suggestively selling something additional to enhance the experience is always worth a try. If revenues look like they will fall short of plan, what can be done to create some revenue in the short term? Most clubs and resorts have a database of members/guests/customers. What offer can you send to fill in the gaps and mitigate the revenue shortfall? So many clubs/resorts know that business is going to be slow and just sit back and accept it. Don't fall into the “woe is me” mode. Take action and develop a new offer to drive short term sales.

This also provides a “heads up” for everyone in operations. An effective General Manager, armed with this information, will reduce variable payroll in accordance with less revenues and spend only on necessities during this timeframe.

6. Game Plan Review

This presupposes you actually have a game plan you are following each quarter for all relevant sources of revenue with activities specified to drive sales, goals established for the results you want to achieve, a responsible party designated for each activity, and a timeline set for implementation. If this is not in place, then discontinue reading this for now and start planning. See my article on “It's a Forfeit” to understand why.

If you do have a game plan in place as described above, you should review each of the initiatives that are planned for the current quarter and determine the status of each. This should include a review of the deadlines for implementation, the leads, prospects, and sales generated, and any “tweaks” that should be made to improve the sales results.

As the quarter progresses, determine what was and wasn't effective in the current quarter and be certain that those initiatives that worked best in the current quarter are included in the next.

So, in review, establishing a quarterly game plan for the growth of all relevant revenues for your club or resort and then following up systematically as described above with a formal weekly sales meeting to ensure implementation, accountability, and ultimately sales success is key if your are SERIOUS ABOUT SALES!

To learn more about Legendary Golf Management and Legendary Marketing, check out our websites at www.legendarygolfmanagement.com and www.legendarymarketing.com.

For Legendary Golf Management,

Bob Devitz
President and CEO
Legendary Golf Management
727-424-2434

Follow me on Twitter!

PS: Want a great resource for all your club or resort marketing, sales, and operations questions? Check out Cunningly Clever Golf Operator.

PPS: Want to chat about your own unique situation? Call me at 727-424-2434 for a complimentary 30 minute consultation.

About Us

Food For Thought

2009-09-10T14:20:00Z

I eat food. I drink beverages.
Therefore, I am qualified to oversee a Food and Beverage operation.

In assessing the operations of many clubs/resorts each month, I find that one of the most poorly operated, inconsistent areas of club/resort operations is Food and Beverage. Especially in member owned environments, which are often overseen by a club board, people seem to think that because they dine out, they somehow have some level of expertise that allows them to make business decisions about this important aspect of the club. The reality is that this is one of the most complex departments in a club to manage, control, and produce a consistent experience.

Let's ask a few questions!

Is your Food and Beverage experience appropriate for what your members/guests want to have in your club/resort? Are you priced properly, too high, or too low? How do you know? Are you tracking cover counts by day? By shift? By hour?

Are your food selections stuck in yesteryear, a nice balance of old favorites and new selections, or edgy? Is your menu designed for function or fashion? Do you change your menu quarterly, or at least semi-annually to keep it fresh?? Or is it changed every year or two and become a club dinosaur? What are your product specifications and portion sizes? Is every item on your menu costed? What is your goal for a la carte food cost? Do you know the contribution margin on every item on your menu?

What about your special events. Are they really special? Do they create a buzz in the Club? Are they eagerly anticipated or the same thing that was done the last 10 years with nothing more than the year changed in the newsletter and promotional piece touting the event? Is your staff challenged every quarter to try new events? New price points?

Got Value?

What about value added programming? It's happening every day in the hospitality industry. Chili's, Ruth's Chris Steakhouse, Flemings, Cody's Roadhouse, McDonalds, Quiznos, Subway, and many other national franchises are actively programming to keep people coming in. Any wonder the success rate of franchises is over 90% while the success rate of individually owned restaurants is about 10%?

What are you doing in your club to create a “WOW” for your members/guests in your Food and Beverage offerings? Are you standing pat on your $32 filet and $28 sea bass wondering why you are doing so few covers? Or, are you trying new concepts that may provide “meal replacement” dining instead of only “special occasion” dining?

Something as simple as Happy Hour can generate additional usage. Comfort food such as meatloaf, chicken pot pie, lasagna, or similar for” at $8 or $9 during the week are popular. Taco bars, pasta bars, burger night, half price on bottles of house wine, Fresh Fish Fridays or a Friday Fish Fry, a Chef's selection at a special price on slower evenings, sushi nights, appetizers at a special price, entertainment, and many other concepts and events drive usage, provide incremental revenue, and keep the staff working. Are you experimenting with new events in your club/resort? Give it a try. You'll be surprised at the buzz it creates.

The Experience

How is your dining room presented? With white tablecloths? No tablecloths? Placemats? Are you charging appropriately for the experience you are providing?
How are your buffets presented? Elegantly with skirting, floral displays, and shiny silver chafing dishes? Or rudimentary with little or no frills? Does it make sense?

Do you have standards of operation to ensure the food and beverage experience for your members/guests? Is every staff member wearing a clean and pressed designated uniform? Is there a specific manner to present menus, serve, food, cocktails, and wine? Are members called by name? Are specific steps of service in place?

Does the service staff know the composition of every item, sauce, and portion size from the menu? Is training provided at least monthly? Is your staff selling suggestively?

The Technical Aspects

How often do you take a physical inventory? Is there “independence” in the inventory process to ensure that the counts are accurate? Is inventory pricing adjusted regularly to reflect the most recent cost the club is paying for all inventoried items or is the cost the club paid last year still being used to determine inventory value?

Do you follow this mantra when receiving and inventorying products?

If you buy it by the pound, weigh it. If you buy it by the piece, count it. If you buy it by
ounce or length, measure it? Under no circumstances, accept it blindly.

I am amazed at how often deliveries are accepted and signed for without even physically being in the same room as the products that were delivered let alone checking the packing slip or invoice against the goods received. Delivery people become savvy very quickly to those who hold them accountable and those who don't. A few pounds of missing steak here or a few bottles of missing liquor there costs a lot of money over an extended period of time.

How much unusable food is stashed away in the freezer, often a chef's best friend, and continues to be counted every month during inventory yet is essentially worth little or nothing?

What does the organizational structure look like in your club's F&B operation? How are your supervisors compensated? Are they incented to produce a specific financial result, train the staff, and maintain standards? Or are they paid simply for showing up?

How is your service staff paid? By hourly wage? Tip pool? Some combination of both? Does your pay structure promote tenure or turnover? What about overtime? Are you paying overtime? Legally?

In addition to costing every item on every menu, have you done the same for liquor, beer, and wine? Do you have specified pour sizes? Are they being adhered to? Do you have pourers which allow only for the pour size for which you are charging? How much of your club's resort's cash is tied up in wine inventory? Have you established par stocks?

Do you have a Food and Beverage minimum? Does it make sense for your club? Do you have a minimum monthly service charge? Should you?

Do you provide an employee meal? How is it accounted for? Is it accounted for at all? Do you allow employees to remove food/beverage from the club? (A bad idea!). Do you allow your employees to consume alcoholic beverages at the end of a shift? (An even worse idea!!).

Private Events

What about your Private Events? Is your catering menu priced right? What does priced right mean? Have you assessed the competitive environment? What are you doing to bring weddings and meetings to the club/resort? Are you covering the costs of setting up and breaking down every room based on the differing needs of each event?

Do your private event policies make sense? When is the “guarantee' due? When is payment in full required? Do you require a signed contract? Do you even have a contract that you require be signed?

A Solution

Lots of questions! Legendary Golf Management will work collaboratively with you to answer all of these and any others and create a customized food and beverage experience that reflects your unique situation and provides what your members/guests want and are willing to pay for.

For Legendary Golf Management

Bob Devitz
President and CEO
727-424-2434
www.LegendaryGolfManagement.com

PS: Want to discuss the steps you should be taking to make your Food and Beverage operation or any other aspects of your club/resort Legendary? Call me at 727-424-2434 for a complimentary 60 minute consultation, a $400 value. Available only to the first 3 clubs who want to take control of their own destiny! Call me NOW!

PPS: For information on how to close all of your leads, click the following link to download our Free Membership Manual on How to Close More Membership Sales, $199 value. Also don't for get to check out Andrew Wood's new book Cunningly Clever Marketing. Andrew has written over 20 marketing books and co-write the world’s only guaranteed marketing system

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Are You Performance Driven?

2009-07-25T17:12:00Z

Legendary Golf Management Warning: Proceed with Caution. The following information on performance driven compensation is hazardous to anyone who does not want to be held accountable!

Are you Performance Driven?

I am amazed at the number of clubs and resorts I speak with who fall far short of creating expectations and accountabilities in their businesses for their key management personnel. Business is about producing a “bottom line” in accordance with the experience your members and guests want and are willing to pay for. And yet when I ask about specific goals and staff compensation, I find that in almost all cases, the staff is operating under what I term an “entitlement system” for compensation.

An “Entitlement System” for Compensation

So, what is an “entitlement system”? Well it's basically a system that pays for doing little more than coming to work and getting through the day It has nothing to do with the actual quantitative or qualitative performance a key staff person is able to produce, or not. Key club personnel such as the general manager and department managers get paid a salary irrespective of the business outcomes. Whether the performance is outstanding or horrific, the pay is the same.

An Alternative: Performance Driven Compensation

The alternative is a “pay for performance” compensation plan! And once a sound “pay for performance” compensation plan is put in place, an amazing transformation occurs! The transformation is sudden and impactful! It creates a buzz in the club. It gets everyone's attention. And it is not without pain. It initially scares the heck out of the staff.

Suddenly, pay is dependent upon producing results, not just showing up for work. Suddenly, spending money does matter. Suddenly, that lead for an outing, a new member, or a private event takes on new importance. Suddenly the staff is now the owner's partner in the success or failure of a club or resort instead of just a passive bystander.

Suddenly the key staff has a stake in the business outcomes and begins thinking and acting like an owner, like someone whose personal financial situation is dependent upon the results of the business, because it is!

So, what does Performance Driven Compensation look like?

Performance driven compensation looks like exactly what it sounds like! It involves placing a significant portion of every general manager's, sales person's and department manager's compensation on the quantitative and/or qualitative results of the business.

For sales positions such as membership directors, private event directors, and outing salespersons, 60% to 70% of the total compensation potential should be based on sales results relative to a predetermined sales plan. What amazes me most is that at so many clubs/resorts, sales personnel are paid salary only. They have no sales goals and no commission component. Salary only for a sales position, huh?

For positions such as General Manager, Food and Beverage Manager, Chef, Director of Golf, Head Golf Professional, Golf Course Superintendent, Tennis Director, Facility Maintenance Director, Golf Course Superintendent, and Club Accountants, 25% to 30% of their total compensation potential should be based on performance. A portion of the performance based compensation should be based on specific departmental numbers, a portion on qualitative plans for improvements in specific departments, and a portion on the financial results for the overall club or resort.

What are other KEY COMPONENTS of a performance driven compensation plan?

A financial plan that has is basis in the realities of the business and is not some “pie in the sky”, unattainable goal.
A quarterly payout.
A sales plan for every revenue department.
Formal quarterly reviews.
Minimum hurdles usually beginning at achievement of 95% of plan to get any bonus (does not apply to sales people).
Overachievement pay available when financial results are exceeded.
Performance review modifiers for payout.

An Example, albeit an ill fated one!

And the plans have to make sense. For example, I spoke with the General Manager of a course operated by a management company who believed his club had “performance driven compensation plans”. In chatting further with the General Manager, he explained that plans were in place for most departments and were being developed for others. He offered an example as a key department manager having $10,000 of bonus potential based on the revenues of his department for the year. Ok so far.

Then it went awry. The club is having an off year and the total revenue budget is $1 million. The General Manager said that they would be lucky to get to $800,000. I naturally assumed that missing the annual goal by 20% and by more than $200,000 would result in “no bonus”. But no! I was told that he would receive 80% of his bonus if the club only achieved 80% of its goal.

WHAT? The club is missing plan by 20% and by $200,000 in revenues and a bonus of $8,000 on a total potential of $10,000 will be paid. When I pointed this out to the General Manager, he suddenly was a lot less proud of this performance based plan. The reality is that it's not performance based at all, just another iteration of entitlement pay!

And I can cite countless more silly examples!

Three Types of Employees

There are three types of employees. Those who MAKE things happen, those who WATCH things happen, and those who WONDER what happened? And if you implement a “performance driven compensation plan “ it will quickly become apparent who buys in and is ready for a challenge and ready to have their performance measured and who does not.

     The Performance MAKERS will display immediate interest, begin pulling reports, become excited about having a specific goal that will be measured, and begin looking for better ways to do business.

     The uninvolved WATCHERS will complain about how it's not fair, spend lots of time trying to explain why it's not fair, and quickly disengage.

     And the clueless WONDERERS, well, they will just fade away.

     A performance driven compensation system will quickly eliminate the WATCHERS and WONDERERS and you will within a short period of time have a solid club/resort team of Performance MAKERS!

So, what will it be at your Club or Resort?

So, what does compensation look like at your club, course, or resort? As an Owner, Board Member, or General Manager are you supporting your staff through their weekly pay just for showing up, much like an allowance for a dependent? Or, is your compensation designed to drive performance, engage all of your key personnel, and have them as a partner in your success?

Ready to become Legendary?

Call me to discuss your own unique situation at 727-424-2434.

For Legendary Golf Management,
Bob Devitz
President and CEO
Legendary Golf Management
www.legendarygolfmanagement.com
727-424-2434

PS: Want to discuss the steps you should be taking to become Legendary? Call me at 727-424-2434 for a complimentary 30 minute consultation, a $300 value. Available only to the first 6 clubs who want to take control of their own destiny! Call me NOW!

PPS: For information on how to close all of your leads, click here to download our Free Manual on How to Close More Membership Sales, $199 value.

Follow The Leader

2009-07-18T14:31:00Z

Remember playing Follow the Leader? It's a game I played on occasion as a kid at parties or sometimes after school. The format as I recall began with choosing a “leader” or "head of the line" and then everyone lined up behind the leader. The leader then moved around and everyone had to mimic the leader's actions. Any players who did not do what the leader did were out of the game.

In speaking with Clubs week after week and hearing what they've been doing, it seems like this silly kid's fun game for recreation has actually migrated to the business side of the golf industry. Let me explain!

Some Specific Recent Examples

I was speaking with a private country club last week that was struggling with membership. I asked about the Initiation Fee and was told that they didn't have one because none of the other clubs in their market have one. I was told that once one of the “nicer” clubs did away with their Initiation Fee, all the other clubs soon followed.

I was speaking with another private club challenged with membership. It became quickly apparent that no matter how good their marketing effort to generate leads and prospects might be, they were not going to be successful because they did not have a person directly responsible for selling memberships. I told the owner that the first thing I would do is hire a membership director and get the person trained to sell the club. The owner replied that none of the other clubs in the area have a membership director and as such he believed that his club didn't need one either.

I spoke with a public golf course recently. I was told that in order to get business the only thing to do was discount. All of the other courses in the area discount I was told! And further was told that once discounting began, it became a price war. Everyone followed the discount leader. And the market price for golf plummeted.

I visited a high end public fee golf course in Florida. I asked about their marketing efforts. I was told that they were doing very little but were advertising in a local golf publication. When I asked why, I was told that everyone advertises in this publication. Now, placing an ad in a publication that is going to be seen by golfers is actually a great way to get your message out. But, in reviewing the ad for this course, it was remarkably similar to the ad for every other golf course. The ad contained the same type of picture as all other ads, the same uninspired copy, lack of an offer, no call to action, and no means to track its effectiveness.

I could continue with more examples but by now I hope you see my point. All of these scenarios play out in thousands of clubs, courses, and resorts across the country every day. So many courses are taking the path of least resistance and following the ill-fated lead of the most desperate club or course in the market.

A club eliminates its Initiation Fee and others soon follow. A Club has poor results in membership and decides to cut its marketing budget and membership salesperson and other clubs begin eliminating salespeople too. A public course desperate for play drops its prices and soon everyone else does so as well. Someone advertises in a golf publication with the promise that your club's ad can be made to look exactly like every other club's ad and believes that will help their situation. It's a golf industry version of Follow the Leader.

The only problem is that the leader who winds up
being followed is the one who has no clue!

Why?

     So why does everyone follow along blindly? Well, they are usually under pressure to do something from a marketing perspective to drive revenue and they really don't know what to do. They think that if someone else is doing it, it may be the right thing for their club too.

     They know intellectually that they should be doing some kind of marketing but lack the training, experience, and expertise in determining what it is and how it should be done. So, doing something makes everyone feel better, gives them something to tell their owner, but is totally ineffective as the rest of the flat, amateuristic effort everyone else is doing.

Dare to be Different!

We are working with many clubs, resorts, and courses that are constantly testing new and different means of marketing. With our Marketing Commander technology everything they undertake is measured so we know what is working and should be continued and what is not and should be discarded.

They are scheduling new and different events. They are open to trying new approaches and ideas, but MOST importantly they are TRYING every day. And understand this, there is no magic bullet. There is no “one thing” that is going to magically turn your club or course into a cash machine. To be successful you have to grind it out. You have to plan, test, and measure. And then do it again, again, and again!

Ask yourself these questions!

Do you have a specific written quarterly plan that specifies all of your marketing efforts for bringing in new business and retaining your existing members, golfers, or guests?
Is there a specific goal for each revenue source every quarter with a timeline and responsible party assigned?
Is all of your marketing trackable?
Are you focused on collecting data every day in every department?
Do you have a trained salesperson to follow up on all of your leads?

So, what's it going to be?

Are you going to be one of the pack, following along, mired in mediocrity or worse, deferring to whoever decides to go first and spending money with no idea whether what you did is working or not?

Or are you ready to forge your own path? Are you ready to be different? Are you ready to distance yourself from the pack? Are you ready to become the SAVVY NEW LEADER? Take a chance! Dare to Become Legendary!

For Legendary Golf Management,

Bob Devitz
President and CEO
Legendary Golf Management
www.legendarygolfmanagement.com
727-424-2434

PS: Want to discuss the steps you should be taking to become Legendary? Call me at 727-424-2434 for a complimentary 30 minute consultation, a $300 value. Available only to the first 6 clubs who want to take control of their own destiny! Call me NOW!

PPS: For information on how to close all of your leads, click here to download our Free Manual on How to Close More Membership Sales, $199 value.

About Us

It's a Forfeit!

2009-07-10T14:51:00Z

Everyone in the golf business has heard of a forfeit, right? Forfeits happen often in match play club events when there aren't enough players to fill a bracket or when a player simply can't show up for a match . So, the match is forfeited! It is given to a competitor because the other competitor, for whatever reason, didn't, wouldn't, or couldn't compete. The competitor who shows up the match wins simply because he was in the game.

This scenario is strikingly similar to what I see every day in the golf industry. With the economy tough, an ever increasing number of clubs and courses are deciding not to take the appropriate steps to drive revenue and create a unique experience for their members and guests. So many just sit back and watch, hope, and pray that things will get better. They don't get in the game. They take no action. They don't show up for their match. They FORFEIT!

A Recurring Theme

Every week I speak with many clubs and read articles on blogs and in online and traditional golf industry publications that are decidedly defeatist in nature. I hear a litany of excuses including the economy, the weather, the competition, their budget, and anything else they can think of to rationalize the state of the industry and the poor performance of their own properties. It's a lot easier to throw in the towel and say that since so many are doing poorly, it's ok for us to be doing poorly as well. Yep, it's bad everywhere and it's bad at my club too. But, that's the attitude of someone who doesn't want to compete, someone who is readily willing to FORFEIT!

Do a Self Assessment!

Compare what you're doing at your own property to the manner Tiger approaches golf. Have you seen Tiger give up on a round or an event? Would Tiger throw in the towel and say he got a bad break on the draw? Would Tiger say his knee is impossibly aching and withdraw, passing on an opportunity to win the US Open? You know the answers as well as I do.

I recognize that many club level executives and department managers are being asked to work longer and harder than ever before. This is usually in response to the financial condition of the club necessitating staff cuts and requiring more of the staff who remains. But you can't expense reduce yourself rich! You must SELL and to do so you must continually evolve your product, service, and try new things to both bring golfers to your course and engage them in new ways during their stay!

So, what are you doing to enhance the experience for your members and guests? What new events and activities have you recently added? What new services are you providing? What's different at your club this year versus last year? How often do you have a creative concepting session with your staff? Is everyone on the staff accountable for “continuous improvement?

What are you doing with your marketing? Are you constantly trying and testing new offers? Are you gathering information from your golfers at every point of contact? Do you capture names from all of your outing participants and follow up with them for a return round at your club or course? Are you registering every one of your guests?
So many marketing efforts cost very little if you have a great database and are able to do targeted e-blasts. Yet so many clubs and course choose not to send them. Fusion marketing with a complementary business is a win-win. Websites that give people a reason to provide their contact information are an active, 24 hour prospector for leads for your club yet most clubs don't have any means to collect data on their website and direct it properly for follow up. Check out our Marketing Commander website at www.marketingcommander.com and learn how our staff and technology can assist you with all of your online marketing efforts.

Are you sales people trained to sell? Do they ask for the sale every time? For referrals? For add on sales?

Need new ideas? Check out Andrew Woods' latest marketing book, Cunningly Clever Marketing at www.CunninglyCleverMarketing.com .

Are you in the Game?

So ask yourself this; are you grinding in your own club like Tiger grinds on the course? Are you trying to get every bit of business possible every day and bring it to the bottom line at an appropriate margin? Most clubs I speak with are not and readily admit it. They have made a decision not to compete, not to do the things they should be doing to drive the business forward. They FORFEIT!

Marketing your club to bring new business and retain your existing member/customer base is hard work that requires a comprehensive plan, a means to measure the results, and a professional salesperson following up on every lead generated with a well crafted script to maximize closing on all sales. Most clubs simply don't do it. They FORFEIT. At best, when times are tough they cut costs, reduce staffing, and wait. They don't realize that money will be spent, but you must give golfers a reason to spend with you.

So ask yourself this, are you in the game? Are you competing, grinding it out as you would in a golf match. Taking actions as if the business were your own and any shortfall had to be funded out of your own pocket? Because, if you are, you will find your club succeeding in even these confusing times! Why? Simple, the majority of your competition is FORFEITING!

To learn more about Legendary Golf Management and Legendary Marketing, check out our websites at www.lmgmc.com and www.legendarygolfmanagement.com

For Legendary Golf Management,
Bob Devitz
President and CEO
www.legendarygolfmanagement.com
727-424-2434

PS: Ready to get in the game? For a one hour complimentary Club consultation about how your club can get in the game, (normally a $500 value) call me at 727-424-2434. This offer is available to only the first 3 Clubs who contact me.

PPS: For information on how to close all of your leads, click here to download our Free Manual on How to Close More Membership Sales, $199 value.

Who Do You Know Who?

2009-06-18T12:41:00Z

A Guide to Success in Generating Membership Referrals!

There is no better source for a new lead for membership at your Club than a referral from a new or current Member. I talk to several Clubs each week and always ask about a member referral program only to find that the Clubs, though desperately in need of new members, do not have a member referral plan in place. Used effectively, you will generate the majority of your leads and new members from your new and current Members. How should this be accomplished? Read on!

Nine Critical Factors for Success in Producing Member Referrals

1. Tell your members the Club needs more members!

Send a letter to all Club Members explaining the need for new members. Most members don't realize that attrition occurs monthly at almost all Clubs. Especially in these trying financial times, keeping the need for new members in the forefront all the time is the easiest, most cost effective, and highest returning method for producing leads for new members. To be effective, the letter should be sent from the person with the most influence in the Club, usually the Board Chairman, Membership Committee Chairman, General Manager, or Membership Director.

2. Explain why!

Explain in the letter why your Club must have new members. Most members don't realize that attrition occurs monthly at even the best Clubs. Members relocate, have health problems, and have changes in their financial situation that cause them to resign from the Club even though they may be satisfied members.

Members should be made aware that the Club has operating expenses but must also ensure that it has an adequate capital reserve to provide for the timely replacement of capital assets.

And let members know that only with a strong membership base can the club continue to keep operating in the manner to which the members are accustomed as well as avoid operating and capital assessments.

Clearly painting the picture of the need for new members in a well written letter will greatly increase the likelihood of a referral.

3. Follow Up!

But, simply sending a letter is not enough though. A scripted follow up phone call from your Sales Director or Membership Director has to happen. The call should begin with the Membership Director explaining that she/he is calling on behalf of the person who sent the initial letter to follow up.

Remind the member about the importance of referrals and ask for those people he/she would like to see extended an invitation to become a member. If the member is having difficulty coming up with names, ask some questions to help the referral process along such as who he knows at work who plays golf or who is new to his neighborhood. If this is not producing results, ask if you could call back next week to give the member more time to consider.

Our Private Club Commander website can automatically track and periodically send electronic follow up letters to your prospects. For more information visit our website at www.privateclubcommander.com.

4. Send an Invitation and Plan a Time to Call the Invitee!

When you receive a referral from a current member, send a written invitation to visit the club and learn more about membership to the person referred. Include the referring member's name and include an offer for a Discovery Day visit to the Club.

Follow up with a phone call to the person referred with the goal of closing the invitee on visiting the Club for a round of golf, tennis, lunch, or whatever makes the most sense given the invitee's interests. Keep the referring member apprised of the status of his invitee at each step of the process.

5. Recognize and Reward

Provide a clubby incentive to members of the club whose referrals become club members. Don't use cash or bounties such as free dues or F&B credits. Use something that is unique to your Club, which builds Club pride and is only available to sponsoring members.

Some of the best examples I have seen include a Club golf flag autographed by course designer, Gary Player, that is matted and framed, a lithograph of the Club's signature hole autographed by course designer, Arnold Palmer, and a Club blazer with a Club crest.

List or better yet, put pictures of all new members and their sponsors in the Club's newsletter as well as on display in a prominent area of the Club's lobby.

Have a new member reception once each month or two months based on the frequency of new member enrollment and invite their sponsors as well. Make it a high end complimentary cocktail party to encourage mingling and meeting.

The reception should be hosted by the Board or Membership Committee and attended by all key department managers and the General Manager. This is an important step in getting new members integrated into club life and helping them connect with other members.

6. Have Invitation Requests Cards Available

Invitation Request Cards provide a means for a member to quickly and easily refer a friend for membership. Make sure that they are in highly trafficked areas of the Club and are easily visible and accessible. Keeping the need forefront in the mind of your members is important. Areas such as the golf pro shop, dining room entrance, bar, and locker room sitting areas should be utilized.

The Invitation Request Cards should capture the member's name, phone number, name of invitee, address, phone number, and e-mail address if possible.

7. Use Guest Registration

This is a must! In a Club I recently worked with in Florida, golf guest registration was the #1 source of new members for the Club. This not only protects the integrity of the Club's guest policy, it also provides you the name, address, e-mail address, and interest the person may have in membership or other Club services. Get this in place as soon as you can!

8. New members

This group is your best source of leads as they haven't fully matriculated into the club yet and still have friends on the ‘outside' whom they would like to include. Let them know that referrals are an expectation of membership during orientation so it doesn't come as a big surprise. Plan to follow up with every new member after 30 days to ask for a referral.

These people are the most excited about the club having just joined and would like nothing more than to have their decision to join validated by one of their non-member friends doing the same thing.

9. Other Sources

A Membership Committee can be a great source of leads. The committee should be composed of people who are active in the community in their jobs or social life. The best people are usually sales oriented or very high profile people in the community from whom an invitation to do anything is regarded highly.

And don't overlook your suppliers. These people service your club on a regular basis whether it is the guy who delivers the beer, sells you liquor and wine, or cleans the carpet. They know all sorts of people and could be a great source of leads. This is the power of ‘who do you know who” that might be interested in membership at the club. Show them your appreciation for referrals by allowing them to play at off peak times when the course is slow.

Also, your employees are a great source of referrals if trained to listen and gather information from Members about who they wish to invite to membership.

Like anything else worthwhile, a continual flow of member referrals won't happen by accident. It takes time, goal setting, tracking, and follow up. But, it will put your Club way ahead of the competition and make a marked difference in your membership enrollment results.

For Legendary Golf Management,

Bob Devitz
President and CEO
Legendary Golf Management
www.legendarygolfmanagement.com
727-424-2434

PS: For information on how to close all of your leads, click here to download our Free Manual on How to Close More Membership Sales, $199 value.

PPS: For a one hour complimentary Club consultation (normally a $500 value) about your Club specific problems, call me at 727-424-2434. Available to only the first two Clubs who contact me.

PPPS: Need more great ideas for your Club? Andrew Wood has just finished his new book called The Complete A-Z Guide to Membership Marketing. It contains the very latest, cutting edge strategies on how to market memberships in today's market! Call us to get information on ordering a copy for your Club at 800-437-4479.

About Us

Guest Registration: Pain or Panacea?

2009-06-05T16:00:00Z

Guest Registration: Pain or Panacea?

I have had much success with guest registration in private country clubs as a source of leads for membership, outings, and private events. This is accomplished through a formal system in the golf pro shop that requires each guest to complete a guest registration card that asks for some basic information plus a question asking the guest to check off any of the club services in which he may have interest.

This simple process has produced new members and revenue for clubs in ALL cases! Yet, I visit and talk with many clubs every week who don’t have this type of system in place.

It’s easy to implement, ensures the integrity of the club’s guest policy, and provides new revenue to the club. So, why isn’t it in place everywhere?

www.LegendaryGolfManagement.com - Golf Management Company

Is Your Club being victimized by Lead Loss?

2009-05-27T14:43:00Z

Ever wonder why sales aren't happening more quickly? Ever wonder why even though inquiries are coming in about membership or other services your Club offers....sales do not follow? Ever wonder why guests of members often express interest in your Club but wind up having their outing or meeting at another Club? Your Club could be a victim of one or more of:

The 7 Deadly Sins of Lead Loss!

To find out whether you or someone at your club are committing one of the 7 Deadly Sins, please honestly ask yourself if any of the following is happening at your Club:

A prospect calls to inquire about the Club, and the note, in all the daily business going on in the Club, gets misplaced. Maybe the person will call back....maybe not.
A salesperson decides that a lead is dead and needs no follow up because the person inquired a few months ago but did not join the Club or book the event.
An events coordinator makes a decision that since the date the person requested their event on is already booked, there is no need to call him back and throws away the message.
Your staff falls into the "until trap" and decides that until... the new menu is finished/the pool is resurfaced/our greens are ready for play/or another amenity driven reason ......... it's not a good idea to call the person back.
It is decided by the person responsible for sales that more research on the person and his needs is required before a return call can be made.
The Club's salespeople are too busy creating the newsletter, planning the 4th of July Party, or doing other administrative tasks to get around to calling the prospect back in a timely manner.
Scripted, formalized sales training for all members of the sales team and other Club staff is not in place and there is no system in place to handle requests for information, so they go unnoticed.

If you answered yes to any of the above questions, then you need a Marketing Commander website! www.marketingcommander.com. If you did not answer yes to any of the above questions, then you must already be a Legendary Partner!

All kidding aside, what does all this mean? It means that prospects that should be YOUR new Members, Outings, and Private Events are going to your competitors!

If any of these things are happening at your Club you are wasting valuable leads that will result in sales for your Club if properly managed. With Marketing Commander's sales management tool you will never again have a lead fall through the cracks. By directing all of your inquiries through our website technology, the right people, including the General Manager, gets an e-mail notification that there has been interest expressed in Membership, an Outing, a Private Event, or other products and services your Club provides. At the same time, this information is automatically populated into the CRM/Sales Management tool of our website and can then be assigned and followed through to its logical conclusion.

What's the next step?

Contact me for a Complimentary One Hour Consult!

What will take place during the consult?

Basically, we talk about your Club, its strengths and challenges, get some specific data like number of members, rounds of golf, type of Club (i.e. Public, Private, Developer Owner, Member owned, privately owned), trends, etc......and then I provide you with recommendations on how to drive membership sales, fee play, outing rounds, private events, member retention........basically whatever the specific need is for your Club. Think about what this can mean for your Club! Five new members? a couple new outings? a wedding or two?........

This is NO COST, NO OBLIGATION Offer to the first two readers who contact me at 727-424-2434. I will then follow up with you to schedule a time to talk.

You will never lose a lead again!

For Legendary Golf Management,

Bob Devitz
President and CEO
Legendary Golf Management
www.legendarygolfmanagement.com
727-424-2434

PS: Check out our industry leading website technology at www.marketingcommander.com

PSS: For more great ideas than you could get reading hundreds of books on marketing, check out www.cunninglyclevermarketing.com

Refundable Initiation Fees! Why?

2009-05-26T17:41:00Z

Private Clubs have historically structured their Membership Offerings to include a provision for the return or refund of all or some portion of the initiation fee/ new members pay to join a Club.

This initial payment is subject to certain terms and conditions as set forth in the Club’s Membership Plan and By-Laws. A common scenario provides a refund to a resigning member based on some formula, such as for every 3or 4 new members who join, one resigning member receives a refund. This formula continues until the Club reaches its Membership Cap after which resigning members are repaid on a one to one basis. Additionally, sometimes the continuation of the payment of dues is required in order to receive a refund.

Can you answer this question?

Every week I speak to Private Clubs experiencing problems with membership. To gain an understanding of their situation I ask a series of questions that include the Initiation Fee required to join the Club. The majority of time, there is a provision for the return of a portion or in some cases all of the Initiation Fee that is required. I then ask the business reason behind the Initiation Fee structure that is in place and I typically get a response like, “I really don’t know” or “that’s a good question”.

The wrong kind of waiting list!

The return of an Initiation Fee can make sense if there is a sound business reason behind the plan and it works very well if the Club is in a great market and is enrolling new members at a rapid pace. However, more often than not, membership velocity begins to slow long before the Club has reached a full complement of members and members who have decided to resign cannot be repaid at the time they wish to resign.

And membership resignations will occur. Even in the finest of Club attrition rates are 6% or greater as Members in many cases, even if they are totally satisfied with their Club, resign due to relocation, health issues, change of employment, and other interests. And, as noted earlier, they may even be required to continue to pay dues in order to receive their refund.

This leaves the Club in the unenviable position of having a waiting list to leave the Club, which not only poses a significant financial hurdle, but also is a deterrent to having new members join.

How can I get out of this mess?

Now, there are solutions to getting out of a situation like this including:

Establishing new categories of membership
Providing refunds to resigning members at a reduced amount. This typically would require Member consent.
Establishing a means for members to lease their membership or designate a beneficial user.
Establishing a non-refundable Membership
Making changes to the by-laws
Creating a re-callable membership

However, caution must be exercised. Trying any new approach without thoroughly considering the many factors involved including clearly understanding your market and where your Club fits in it, your competition, your approach to prospecting for new members, your enrollment and attrition rates, what you are permitted to do legally, and the effects the changes may have on the Club’s financial stability, may actually turn a bad situation into a worse one.

Get professional assistance now!

Does your Club currently have a waiting list to leave? Are you just starting a new Club and structuring your membership offer? Don’t simply assume that the way Membership plans have been set up for decades is the right approach for you. Don’t fall into the trap of short term thinking or advice from well intentioned friends or Board members who are not professionals with experience in the Membership or Club business. The decisions you make today have a considerable impact on how successful or not your Club will be in enrolling new members 3 or 4 years from now.

Bob Devitz

PS: For a one hour complimentary Club consultation (normally a $500 value) about your Club specific problems, call me at 727-424-2434. Available to only the first three Clubs who contact me.

PSS: Need more great ideas for your Club? Andrew Wood has just finished his new Book called The Complete A-Z Guide to Membership Marketing. It contains the very latest, cutting edge strategies on how to market memberships in today's market! Call us to get information on ordering a copy for your Club at 800-437-4479.

About Us

Bob Devitz is the COO and President of Legendary Golf Management and is an expert in the operations and marketing of Private Clubs. Bob has over 25 years of experience in the industry, primarily in senior management roles with ClubCorp, an industry leading “for profit” company. Bob has an MBA from The Florida State University, a BSBA with a specialization in marketing from The University of Florida, and is a member of the PGA of America. Having worked with hundreds of Private Clubs during his career, Bob brings results driven, business approach to the Private Club Industry.

www.LegendaryGolfManagement.com - Golf Management Company

Who are those strangers in my (Club) house?

2009-05-21T11:38:00Z

    Who is that guy? Who are those people? How often have you heard that from your members in the golf shop in the morning while waiting to check in for golf? Or, questions about the group playing in front of them on the course? Well, those strangers might just provide the very best opportunity for your Club to achieve your membership sales goals this year.

     One of the best and most inexpensive sources of leads and prospects for membership are the GUESTS your current members bring to their Club. They are a natural since they already know someone who is a member and they have already been to your club. But, they are often over overlooked, ignored, or seen only a source of some short term greens fee revenue.

What is your Club's Guest Policy?

Does your Club have a Guest Policy that makes sense for the realities of TODAY? When was the last time it was reviewed? What are you trying to accomplish with it? Have you given serious thought to when guests should be permitted, how much they should be charged and how often they are allowed to play. Do you consider seasonality and busy times and days at your Club when establishing the foregoing parameters? What I find time and time again is that the policy hasn't been reviewed or changed in years. “That's what we've always done,” is a typical response.

Are guests required to register prior
to using your Club's amenities?

     The answer to this has to be YES, WITHOUT FAIL, 100% OF THE TIME! Now you will hear excuses from every department about how it's too busy to have guests register, Members don't like it, it upsets the guest, and many other excuses to keep from making this happen. But, like anything else worthwhile, it requires a commitment to become effective.

     If guest registration has not been taking place, you should first send a letter to your members explaining what the policy is, why it is what it is, and the fact that all guests must register. This letter should come from the Board Chairman, Club Owner, or General Manager depending on the structure of your Club. Your club has the right to know who is on the property. Also, in case of an emergency a guest may need to be contacted so your club should know where all guests are possibly located at all times. Then begin the registration process

     With a Private Club Commander website, this can easily be accomplished electronically. The information you should be sure to capture is Member name, Guest name, address, e-mail address and a question asking if they would like to receive information on membership and /or other Club services such a Private events, or golf outings. You will be astounded at the number of guests who will tell you they are interested in more information. At a Club I recently worked with, guest registration was the very best source for bringing new members to the Club.

Is your guest policy enforced?

     So now you have a guest policy! Do you enforce it? If all guest play is not tracked you are doing your Club a disservice. Every Club will have speeders. Speeders are those members who want their guests to play more than the Club allows and will try some innovative techniques to beat the system. These are often good prospects for membership and have to be held to the policy guidelines. A commitment from all Club officials to enforcement is critical and key to the success of your Guest Policy.

What happens to the Guest Registration Information?

     Your Guest Registration system must have a simple, reliable way to get guest information to the Membership Director in a timely fashion. Private Club Commander's website captures all guest information, sends an e-mail notification to the appropriate people in the Club that someone has requested information on a Club service, and automatically populates our state of the art Sales Management tool in the CRM. You will never lose a lead again! We can even set up an immediate thank you letter for your interest in the Club and follow up letters to go out AUTOMATICALLY at predetermined intervals.
So, now what?

     How often have you heard the advice, “don't talk to strangers”? While sound in many instances, it is the worst possible advice for Private Clubs interested in growing their membership roster! Strangers in the House can become a Private Club's new best friend. Call or e-mail me TODAY to discuss how guest registration can become an ongoing revenue generating machine for your Club.

www.LegendaryGolfManagement.com - Golf Management Companies

www.lmgmc.com - Legendary Marketing

www.CunninglyCleverMarketing.com - Marketing Book

Got Plans?

2009-04-30T19:42:00Z

Got Plans?

As we enter the final two months of 2008, your Club should be well on its way if not finished with its Business Plan for 2009. Yet, I find that in many cases Clubs have not yet even started the process. When I ask why the plan hasn’t begun, I hear a litany of amusing responses, well actually unfounded excuses. A sampling of the feedback includes:

We can’t start a new budget when we don’t have final numbers for 2008.
We haven’t decided what we are going to do with our operation in the off season.
We’re too busy.
We’re afraid of what it might look like.
We tried that before and it did not help us.
It takes too much time and we don’t ever use it for anything.

Any of this strike a chord? Be honest now!

The reality is that many Clubs either don’t have the skills, commitment, discipline, or desire to put together a plan. Planning is work! Hard work! But like any other hard work well done, it provides great benefits.

A forward thinking approach with a financial plan in place for the entire year and then updated on a quarterly basis with a forecast with a focus on creating the future is a paradigm that any successful business utilizes. Yet, I find that in most cases Clubs do little more than take a perfunctory look at the numbers from the prior month usually about 15 to 20 days if not more after the month has ended.

I have seen amazing transformations in the actions Clubs take when the financial realities of their business are made known to them in black and white terms with a well thought out financial plan and a forecast of the future business. I have implemented forecasting where it previously was not utilized and immediately new plans were developed for better expense controls and the marketing ideas became number one priorities instead of just “when I get to it” afterthoughts.

A focus on creating the future through a thorough, well crafted business plan is what separates great operators from marginal and poor performers. It the difference between swimming toward a destination and just drifting with the current. It reminds me of a passage from Alice in Wonderland. When Alice encounters a Cat during her travels, she asks the cat for advice on the road she should take. The Cat responds by asking Alice where she wants to go. Alice responds that she really does not know. The Cat responds by telling Alice that if she doesn’t know where she wants to go, then the road she takes really doesn’t matter. Do you know where you want to go in 2009?

You must have goals. But putting together a financial is more than just crunching numbers. There is much groundwork that must be completed in order to get the proper foundation to plan. A solid financial plan is the final results of a thorough Business Planning process which includes:

Components of a thorough Business Plan include:

1. SFSWOT Analysis

This is analysis of each Club department’s and the Club’s overall

Successes
Failures
Strengths
Weaknesses
Threats
Opportunities

It provides a critical self assessment of your Club and provides a great foundation for goal setting for both qualitative and quantitative improvements in the upcoming year.

2. Competitive Analysis
Who is your competition? What do they charge? What is your unique selling advantage?

3. Membership Planning
What are your Club trends for both membership enrollment and attrition by category? What real growth do you want to plan for in 2009? What has been the trend with upgrades and downgrades? What are you doing with Initiation Fees? Do you have financing in place? How will you handle your wait list to join? To resign?

4. Pricing Plan
What price increase will you take this year and when? Will dues increase? If so, will that cause attrition? How will you price your cart and guest fees? What about F&B. Remember, except for a very few elite Clubs in the Country, cost does matter.

5. Payroll Planning
What payroll increases are you authorizing for the Club’s employees in 2009? Are the increases performance based or just “no thought” across the board increases? Can your Club afford to give increases? Do you have incentive based compensation plans in place or do you just pay for showing up regardless of the performance?

6. Expense Planning
What expense increases are you anticipating? Have you reviewed each department on a line item basis to determine if the expenses may have significant fluctuations either up or down? Items that can change significantly include general liability insurance, property taxes, utilities, fertilizer, chemicals, and fuel. Have you reviewed these thoroughly to ensure you have an accurate view of the expense side of the financial plan?

7. Marketing Plan
Do have a written quarterly game plan for driving the revenue sources that are important to your Club? Are specific timelines and people assigned to carry out the plans? Have you budgeted the needed dollars for marketing to ensure you will be able to achieve the results you need? Check out our industry best website solution for Private Clubs at www.privateclubcommander.com

8. Retention Planning
Do you have a comprehensive calendar of events that appeal to all segments of your membership to keep them using the Club and providing needed revenues. Is your calendar planned ahead at least 3 months at all times? Or are you trying to come up with things at the last minute because the newsletter copy is due?

9. Qualitative Improvement Planning
Do you have a written quarterly plan in ever department for qualitative improvement? Specifically, are you challenging all of your Club departments to implement 2 or 3 initiatives that create a better member experience, provide for improved employee efficiency, introduce a new product or service, or produce a better financial result?

10. Capital Planning
Do you have a written capital replacement plan in place for 2009? Replacing depreciated assets on an annual basis is another component of a successful business. Do you have the necessary cash to replace what is needed in 2009? Are you going to finance or lease needed equipment? Have you done the analysis? Is your plan at least looking ahead 5 years?

We can assist your Club with your planning as well as an array of other services to maximize your Club’s potential. Visit Legendary Golf Management’s website at www.legendarygolfmanagement.com for a complete list of services we offer.

For Legendary Golf Management,

Bob Devitz

PS: For a one hour complimentary Club consultation (normally a $500 value) about your Club specific problems, call me at 727-424-2434. Available to only the first two Clubs who contact me.

PSS: Need membership ideas for your Club? Andrew Wood has just finished his new Book called The Complete A-Z Guide to Membership Marketing. It contains the very latest, cutting edge strategies on how to market memberships in today's market! Call us to get information on ordering a copy for your Club at 800-437-4479.

About Us
Bob Devitz is the President and COO of Legendary Golf Management and is an expert in the operations and marketing of Private Clubs. Bob has over 25 years of experience in the industry, primarily in senior management roles with ClubCorp, an industry leading “for profit” company. Bob has an MBA from The Florida State University, a BSBA with a specialization in marketing from The University of Florida, and is a member of the PGA of America. Having worked with hundreds of Private Clubs during his career, Bob brings a result driven, bottom line approach to the Private Club Industry.

Complimentary Membership Sales Manual ($199 Value)

2009-04-24T13:43:00Z

Complimentary Membership Sales Manual ($199 Value)

     This manual is one of eight designed to train staff to quickly and easily improve their membership closing ratios.

     Legendary Golf Management has over 60 such manuals on every facet of your club or resort to help you systematize and maximize every area of your operation.

     Legendary Golf Management is powered by superior sales, marketing and systems!

Download your free copy now

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Golf Management Blog by Legendary Golf Management - Golf Management Company

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